TODAY I and my Lib Dem colleagues are being asked to support a big hike in tuition fees.

I am a Government backbencher and I support the Government. I also accept that both parties in the coalition have to compromise.

But £9,000 fees isn’t a compromise. Nor is it in the spirit of the coalition agreement.

If you had asked any of the 57 Lib Dem MPs back in May, when we agreed the coalition, that later in the year we’d be asked to back £9,000 university fees, we’d have laughed at you.

We knew that we would have to give up our previous policy on fees, but we were sure that whatever came forward would not involve trebling them. We should never have been put in this position by the party’s leadership.

If the Government loses the vote today, it only has itself to blame. Rushing through legislation is never a recipe for good legislation, but to do so when there is so much anxiety and anger would be a huge mistake.

We are told “there is no alternative” to the plans. That isn’t true. Sometimes the bravest thing is to say you need to think again. This has not happened, so I shall be leading the call for a rethink and shall vote against the ­Government. If enough of my colleagues do the same, then perhaps they will have to listen.